Excuse Me, Is that Your Baggage?

If you have ever flown on an airplane and had to check your bags, you know when you get to your final destination you have to retrieve your baggage. I’m sure many of you can relate to waiting for the buzzer and flashing light to warn you the baggage is coming onto the carousel. It seems like everyone is always in a hurry to exit the plane and get to the baggage claim area, only to stand around and wait for their bags.

While you are waiting, the airlines always give the announcement that many bags look the same and to always check the name on the bags you retrieve to make sure they belong to you. On Hubs’ and my last flight we waited longer than normal for our baggage, and everyone was getting antsy waiting for their bags. There were two flights which had come in simultaneously and apparently one of the carousels wasn’t working correctly, which made us all wait what seemed like forever. It was probably about a half hour.

As I stood back waiting for Hubs to get our bags from the carousel, I watched as people picked up bags which looked like theirs and put them back over and over again. At one point there was a woman who took a red bag off the carousel only to have another woman yell and come running over to tell her it wasn’t her bag.

One by one, as the crowd began to disperse, others stepped forward to once again pick up the wrong bag and put it back on the carousel. What I thought was funny was the way people were willing to claim a bag as their own without ever checking the name on the tag.

In fact, this has happened to Hubs before. Someone picked up his bag thinking it was their own, and even took it home with them. We were thankful they returned the bag later. I wondered what the other person thought when he opened Hubs’ bag to find it full of dirty clothes which probably wouldn’t fit. If he had checked the name on the bag he would have seen it wasn’t his and saved himself a lot of aggravation.

How many times in your life have you picked up someone else’s baggage, only to find out later it wasn’t yours? The kind of baggage I’m talking about now is the relational, spiritual, emotional or financial kind.

We all have baggage in this life. Some of us have been carrying our baggage for a long time. Some of us have been carrying baggage that doesn’t even belong to us, because we fear what would happen if we dropped it. But if you check, is your name on the tag or is it someone else’s baggage? As parents we all want to help our children. We want our kids to be happy and like us so we tend to go above and beyond in carrying their baggage for them. There are also those we love who have compulsive behaviors, addictions or other issues and we can certainly help them carry their baggage. However, in doing so it is easy to become an enabler. Until they take ownership of their issues they will never discover, let alone deal with, the full weight of their own baggage.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t help those with problems, but I am saying we need to be careful about what we choose to carry so we don’t collapse under the weight. If you haven't been dealing with your own baggage, you can't help someone else with theirs Click To TweetIf you haven’t been dealing with your own baggage, you can’t help someone else with theirs. We can have great intentions, but if God hasn’t called you to help carry it, don’t pick it up. Just because the bag may look like yours doesn’t mean you need to yank it off the carousel and take it home.

There are times we are called to help others carry their burdens, such as when people are suffering in poverty, injustice, grief or illness to name a few. There is a difference between helping someone with this type of burden, and taking on their baggage. A burden is a heavy load which is inflicted on a person or group of people through no fault or desire of their own. Baggage consists of personal belongings which someone chooses to carry with them.

Maybe God is calling you to check your own baggage and return what doesn’t belong to you. If your baggage consists of fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, anger or any other negative thoughts, you can return those bags to the rightful owner, Jesus. He took on the burden of our baggage when He chose to die on the cross for us.

There was a hymn I sang as a child called, “At the Cross” by Isaac Watts and I loved the chorus to this song:

Sheila, this is a great post and so pertinent! As parents we definitely struggle to let our children carry their own loads. We can be a help at times, but we still have to step back and let them grow up one way or another. I love your analogy of baggage. Good grief, I have enough of my own baggage to let God work with me on, I don’t need to be carrying around a bunch of other’s baggage as well. Ha, ha. Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy your insights.- Amyhttp://stylingrannymama.com/

great post! I really love your explanation of the difference between a burden and baggage- I never looked at it that way before… and it is something I really needed to hear today. Thank you! Love you and miss you! <3

Hi, Terri!
I’m glad this helped! I understand what you are saying because it is easy to get caught up and try to carry someone else’s bag. I’ve been there and done that. I will be praying for you and asking God to give you His wisdom and strength!

A lot of us take on baggage from our childhood that wasn’t even our baggage in the first place. It helps to have godly friendships that can help us talk through and get rid of that baggage so that it doesn’t affect our future relationships.

Hi, Susan! You are right about that! Childhood baggage is the worst in my opinion. Nothing like being loaded down with an oversized suitcase from the day you were born. Godly friendships and great counseling are key in learning how to get rid of our baggage now and prevent it from happening in the future! Thanks for your comment!

This so spoke to me even today. I was counseling someone and found myself, moved by the Holy Spirit, to draw that line. I came right up to that line where I was about to pick up her baggage and carry her burden on myself when the Holy Spirit lovingly chastised me, reminding me that it was not my burden to bear but rather merely my place to counsel her as He saw fit. It’s in my nature to carry other peoples burdens but that doesn’t help them in their walk. My curing someone else’s baggage only weighs me down and weekends them when they should be building up their own strength. Great article!

Hi, Erin! Yes! It is all about knowing the difference between the Holy Spirit and our lack of discernment. I’m a fixer by nature and God has chastised me at times too. Sometimes people have to carry their own baggage so they can feel the weight of their issue. Thanks for your insight and good thoughts!

Hi, Nancy!
I used to own people’s baggage until the weight of all of it made me collapse. Growing up I was the fixer and it was expected of me until I learned it wasn’t my place to fix things to make people happy while becoming miserable myself. I am thankful to God for helping me unload my baggage and giving me the strength to get rid of others.

Thanks for sharing. Great writing, great illustration! Reminds me of how Jesus warns us to first remove the beam out of our own eye so we can see clearly to remove the beam out of our brother’s eye. We have to primarily deal with our own problems so we can then go on to be a help to others!

Oh, Sheila! You hit the nail on the head with this post. Yes, we are supposed to help each other along but not carry their baggage. That is Christ’s responsibility not ours. There is now way in this world we can truly carry their load, but we can point them to the One that can and encourage them every step of the way!

I like the analogy of the airport baggage claim. We should bear one another’s burdens and help those in need, but we need to seek God’s wisdom in how we should help. I know someone who always asked for money for different financial needs. After a while, we noticed this was a pattern in that person’s life, so my husband, instead of giving him more money, came alongside him, prayed with him, and tried to teach him personal finance.

It always happen a lot and sometimes it deems normal. But it costs a lot if wasted time. The trick is to decorate your luggage with stickers and name tags. It works! And your kids will love to do it for you.

Meet Sheila...

I am an ordinary woman who loves Jesus, has a passion to encourage others to look for the Jesus Glitter in everyday life and encourage others to “Be the Sparkle.” I love bling and I know God does too! How do I know this? God’s word shares Jesus Glitter from the beginning to the end and invites us to “Be the Sparkle.”

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